of these astonishing creatures, Brusatte's captivating narrative?generously illustrated with original drawings and photographs?traces the evolution of dinosaurs from their inauspicious start as small shadow dwellers in the Triassic period into the dominant array of species that arose during the dinosaurs' peak. In the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, thousands of species thrived, including T. rex, Triceratops, Brontosaurus, Velociraptor, and more, as well as winged and feathered dinosaurs, the prehistoric ancestors of modern birds. The story dramatically concludes at the end of the Cretaceous, when a giant asteroid or comet struck the planet and nearly every dinosaur species (but not all) died out, in the most extraordinary extinction event in Earth's history, one full of lessons for today as we confront a ?sixth extinction.? An instant classic and a worldwide bestseller, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs will be a treasured work for decades to come.